Friday, 31 July 2009

War’s 1 year anniversary is fast approaching and the excellent guys at Mythic are giving us what looks to be an epic live event, I have added the video below. Stuff like this keeps me playing and the knowledge War is here to say for a long time. I soOOoooOOOOo want the cloak!

I wandered into a dangerous mind set for me over the last week. It is one were progression becomes my main focus, which means the act of actually playing the game takes second fiddle.

This is largely due to the fact my Choppa is level 37 renown rank 31. What happens is I end up grinding PQ’s just to try and use a 1 and a half hour play session effectively. Even questing becomes too slow, as I become impatient because I have to travel or read text. Let alone stand in a keep for half an hour with guild members defend.

This means I end up actually missing all the fun stuff, and not engaging with my guild members. So I have pulled my self out of the progression pit and told myself 40 will happen so stop trying to make it happen. So last night instead of the PQ’s I joined a pug war band and had loads of fun.

War band is probably a bad term as there were at least 4 of them which is more of a zerg. It was only an hour’s play session, but instead of following I tried to make sure I was one the front line. Which does wonder’s for you character ego. I just charge and when I have casters in my range I stick on Git To DaChoppa and because there so tightly packed in just watch those damage numbers fly up. I know the zerg is not skillful but sometimes all you need is to stick your choppa into as many faces as possible.

Over the past week a lot of our main open RvR leaders are trying the free trial for Dark Age of Camelot.

Those who are left have decided to level alts. My Choppa is 4 levels of 40, but has run out of rested experience. So this week has been made up of power levelling other guild members with my Choppa and taking my Squig Herder out for a run ‘Toenail’ is level 16, and I forgot how much fun the path of Quick Shootin was. Kiting multiple mobs with my Squig and snares makes for very fluid dynamic combat.

We have just been queuing for scenarios and running public quests, I love the fact you don’t need to go near questing to level.

WCPI

Check out Gaarawarr Gabs and his latest post, it is an interview with Josh Drescher. How does Gaarawarr do it? He is not even playing the game at the moment yet his blog still remains relevant. I think, he one of those people who is a natural blogger and will only go on to greater things. For now I am just pleased he playing the game I love.

The Patch 1.3.0b is here on the euro servers. I know they have temporally gimped a lot of classes. But for my Choppa this just gives him an excuse to try out another spec.

I think this patch is a step in the right direction, together with the extra ramps in keeps, defending one will result in an interesting challenge.

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

This is objective is in the middle of the map fairly close to the destruction war camp. It is also very close to another objective, so can be taken in conjunction while the defence timer is running (If an active order group is not around.).

Terrain features

The battle objective is located on a plateau with 3 steep sides and a gentle slope to the west. As the objective is higher up and you can see the approaching enemy and can easily run or defend depending on numbers.

Defending the objective can be fairly simple against equal numbers if your melee dps and tanks can hold the ridge, while you healers hide out of line of sight. If you are against larger numbers and they attack all sides you can quickly be overwhelmed.

When attacking getting members south without being seen can be a good ploy, then use your main force from the north you can get into there healers quickly if they don’t post scouts on the south ridge.

Engagements

I have had some of the best fights at this objective. If you have two massive war bands there is plenty of open space but with the added advantage of using the slopes or the building at the east of the plateau to de-aggro yourself.

Wednesday, 15 July 2009

They used to be a Warhammer Online podcast before they moved to a wider spectrum of topics check out No Prisoners, No Mercy - Show 38 as they have an interview Paul Barnett.

If you are expecting nougats of information your best bet is just to re-reading the state of the game letters, but if you just want entertainment and like the enthusiasm Paul and the two sisters bring with them, then you will not be disappointed.

Last night we defended a keep in Caledor against a large contingent of order, and managed to push them back twice in different ways.

When they first attacked we had our Choppa’s and Chosen behind the keep door about 6 or so, every time we pushed out we got wiped and our healers had to resurrect our burnt bodies. A little later on we had a greater number of players, and a count down went out in region chat. The push was successful, but required lots of work as we had to get past the tanks and AoE damage. The majority of the order war band were killed and the rest scattered. The count down helped, but I think in the end the numbers worked in our favour.

The second time our war band leader ordered us to mount up on the postern, while other members notified when it was clear. We exited the keep and hit the invading war band at their healers flank.

It is hard to describe but it was like one of the kitchen cleaning advertisements on television, were they clean away the dried in stain with one wipe. The invading war band completely crumbled, so much so I think their tanks at the door where still manning the ram probably wondering were their war band had just gone. They had little time, to fight or flee.

This is not meant to be a bragging post of how destruction won the battle or at superior skill as I think I am only just approaching competent, but a focus on how there are multiple ways to get any one task done and that numbers are not always the way to go.

Saturday, 11 July 2009

I thought I would try a new regular feature with the blog. Spending a lot of time in tier 4 and playing a lot of open realm versus realm you slowly get to know the zones and how PvP plays ebbs and flows at certain points on the map. The guild I am with is a decent set of players and the war band leaders are always trying new tactics to try and beat the other side, so I thought I use the experience’s I am have to break down the objectives and keeps throughout the zones.

This may end with one feature or expand (if successful) across all the tiers. The first one is here. I will try and keep a common layout, and as my soul is sold to Chaos the details will be destruction focused. If you have any comments on views please post.

This objective is very close to the order war camp, from destruction point of view it is a bit of a lone objective and is used by order to ninja the objective before destruction can make it in time and maybe preventing a zone lock.

Terrain features

The battle objective is situated in sort of a crater with a path leading down and around, though a quick root in and out is available by means of a slope. Getting up the slope can be tricky but you just need to approach it from the right.

This objective can be a death trap for the smaller war band as it is a dead end and any approaching enemy can get a very good view of you war band numbers, without having to engage.

As the slope upwards is tricky it can be used as a farm point for ranged dps if they can taunt and pull the stupid lone war band stragglers up the slope.

Engagements

For destruction this can be a quick way to a war band wipe. Order can trap you at the objective, and any dead can quickly spawn back if their healers are pressed. My advice is hope the objective caps before order arrives and either quickly move up the slope or work you way round and push order closer to the war camp and then break off once you have sufficient numbers to make it away. So choosing when to cap this objective can be at important as fighting at it.

I agree with him War is what you make it, if you using the same tactics all the time or standing in the capital city waiting for the Land of the Dead to open for your side yes the game might get repetitive or feel like a grind.

Why don’t you, try the following?

Stop and have a look round. The world Mythic has created is beautiful and contains so many nooks and crannies and beautiful spots. I love the tier 3 Empire battle objectives or the tier 4 the elf areas.

Put a group together and try and run some RvR.

Has the door on the outer wall fallen, instead of running to the keep, push out at the postern and catch them from behind. Does the keep have buildings contained inside the out walls? Hide in them and pop out when they least expect it.

Have you have just joined a scenario group, with an enemy premade in it? Don’t just leave the scenario, try and form your own group and use the same tactics, or operated some avoidance tactics taking objective without running into that bomb squad.

Go and explore that zone you have not tried and or that public quest you never completed.

If you continually just follow the zerg or AoE the same mob to power level the game will only get dull and repetitive.

Monday, 6 July 2009

I have just reached level 32, so it is the final few levels till the cap in tier 4. I am planning to do most of my levelling through RvR and scenarios. With the occasionally visit to public quests throughout the zones.

This time round, I have managed to keep my renown rank relatively close to my level, as it currently stands at 28. I don’t want to reach forty again and have to grind 10 levels of renown rank just to wear the annihilator stuff (renown rank 33).

Running keeps in tier 4 without with the level 30 renown rank ability to bypass the postern, sounds like I’ll be as much us as a chocolate Bright Wizard staff.

Since starting to play Warhammer I have been slowly working my way through the novels to pick up lore and gain more of a feeling about the world in Warhammer Online. It has been slow, as when it comes down to it whether I pick up a book or play War the later usually wins.

I enjoyed the Gotrek and Felix novel and found myself more drawn to Felix than the slayer. I like the fact he is more fallible and unsure about his predicament and seems to more fumble through the book than his doom questing friend. The books story tended to move quickly in an action adventure style. Especially more so in the first novel which has almost a pulp comic feel about it. It seems to settle down in Skavenslayer and you get more of a feel for the world and the main characters.

The way the Skaven were portrayed was probably my favourite thing through all three novels. Their inability to see their own failings and master race mentality made me want to play one even more (if they ever saw the light of day in Warhammer Online).

Though I enjoyed the books, I couldn’t help feel I had read the story before. The Warhammer Dwarfs are well… Dwarfs and didn’t seem to stray far away from jokes and sarcastic one liners with who ever they were fighting at the time. There were points in the books when you got to know about the Book of Grudges and their fascination with gold. But that is still general Dwarf story fodder, maybe the slayers past is to be kept for further novels.